November 17 2002 final


Lleyton Hewitt d Ferrero 75 75 26 26 64


QUESTION: Considering on Thursday you thought perhaps you might have been going home for the weekend, how does it feel to be sitting there with those two trophies next to you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's fantastic. It's been another very special week in my ?? not only tennis career, but in my life in general, I guess. To come here and defend it not only ?? you know, obviously my goal was coming here to get this one to my left, but, you know, once that sort of passed, then obviously I tried to put everything into, you know, regaining focus and desire and motivation, I guess, to come out and win the Masters Cup and defend it again. It's not the easiest thing to do when you're playing against the other seven best players in the world, you know. It's sort of, in my opinion, probably anyone in the tournament could have won it.

QUESTION: Where does this stand in terms of the set of most intense matches? You've played these three in a row now. Also, what are your feelings when it was over? What was your initial reaction.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, every match this week was a grind, you know, it was ?? I didn't have one easy match. Obviously the Costa match was ?? I wasn't playing as well as I would have liked to have been, but you want to play yourself into the tournament as well, and then the Moya match, I felt like I played pretty well in that match and got beaten by a better player and had a lot of chances. Safin, Federer and Ferrero, you know, doesn't get much tougher than those three matches. I think maybe a couple of three?hour matches and a four?hour match nearly. So, you know, I don't know how I held up at all, considering the way that I have been feeling the last few weeks. I got no idea. And, yeah, when I eventually won today, just relief, I can put my feet up and go on holidays. It'll be great. Can't wait.

QUESTION: Congratulations, Lleyton. Justine Henin got married and she changed her name to the husband's family name. If you marry Kim Clijsters, do you want her to change to Kim Hewitt as well?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I got no idea. Haven't even thought about it. That's the least of my worries, if we're to get married, you know, it doesn't really bother me, I guess.
QUESTION: I don't think I can top that. Talking of Kim, who was it you were on the phone to when your dad brought the phone out on to court?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was Kim. That was an easy one.

QUESTION: Many great champions got the title of Masters; for example, Peter Sampras, Boris Becker. So are you proud of this title?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Very proud. I think obviously when you win it, you know, once it's something that's going to stick very close to your heart, when, you know, when your career is over, to win the final, you know, end of year Masters. For me to do it back to back, it makes it, you know, that whole much more special, I guess, you know, with all the pressures and going in there expecting to do well again. So, you know, something I think, you know, at the moment I'm over the ?? I'm so happy to be sitting here, won the Masters again, but I think when you settle down, you retire and look back on it and see that you were able to beat, you know, such a high caliber of players within six days, you know, I think sort of, you know, very proud.

QUESTION: When you were obviously in trouble at 1?3 down in the fifth, you suddenly found your first serve again. Was there any reason for that? Were you conscious of suddenly finding your first serve again? You had two love service games and served much better right at the end.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not really. There was times during the match, you know, no doubt when I was hurting and I was struggling. My legs just felt dead out there and I sort of put everything in to try to end up winning, obviously, the first set, when I came back and win the second as well, you know, it was a little bit of a rollercoster out there and I just had a bit of a letdown and just sort of hit the wall out there halfway through the third set, pretty much after I had I think 2?3 0?40 to break back and wasn't able to break and then it sort of changed a bit. It was either 2?1 or 3?2 and I wasn't getting ?? my legs, I just wasn't able to get that push up on my first serve which was hurting me a lot because as soon as he got me in the rally, he was making me pay on the second serve. So, you know, it was something I was trying to do. I don't know why in the end, but it started to pay dividends a little bit, but you're right, in the end, I did certainly start to hold service games a lot easier and it was a lot easier for me to start putting pressure on his service games then as well.

QUESTION: Have you ever lost a match being up two sets to love? What was being done to your finger when it was treated on the court? You looked like you ran out of gas in the middle of the match, just wondering what you told yourself, you know, when the fifth set started.
LLEYTON HEWITT: The first question. No, I can't recall losing a match from two sets to love. The closest that I came was probably against Schalken in Wimbledon quarters this year. Second question, the finger. I had it ?? I've had a small cut there the last few days and it's just been getting worse and worse with obviously the longer matches and this morning in practice, I practised without it taped and it just started opening up and bleeding in the practice court. So really no other choice than ?? the trainer before the match put on some kind of glue stuff and then to stop it bleeding, but also then like a hyperfix wrap and that was falling off towards the end, so I decided to do this when it looked like going into a fifth set. What was the last question?

QUESTION: You ran out of gas.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, it was no surprise to me that I was running out of gas. You know, I haven't been able to do any training over the last, you know, four to six months. So, you know, for me, it was no real surprise that I was starting to get a bit tired out there. Start of the fifth set I was, you know, hoping to try and get off to a good start and hold serve and trying to keep in front. I wasn't able to do that and then I just had to say to myself, dig deep and actually thought about the Schalken match a lot during that fifth set. I was two sets to love up in that match and lost the next two and then was down a break twice in the fifth set against Schalken, exactly the same as today. That never say die attitude, I guess, helped out a lot again today.

QUESTION: Now that the year is completely finished, can you just reflect on it a bit and maybe compare it to last year where you basically won a Slam and reached No. 1 and won the Masters Cup and how are they different?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I think this year I came ?? went up against the odds quite a few times this year and was able to bounce back and I think that's ?? you know, that's the most satisfying part of this year, the way that I spoke about it a little bit obviously after the other night when I got No. 1, but the chicken pox just hit me around a lot at the start of the year and I spoke about how disappointed I was, you know, with what happened at the Australian Open and it would have been easy for a lot of guys to sort of not go through the motions, but not be ?? try and prove something to yourself and to everyone else, I guess, after that, and that's what I tried to do. I trained extremely hard back in Adelaide with Jason straight after that. I felt pretty bad for Jason as well. We just started and then, you know, I was in the sick bed for three or four weeks. So, you know, for me, that's probably the most satisfying thing throughout this year. Last year, obviously, you know, I had a pretty good year first half, but then obviously the second half was incredible last year and, you know, something that I was able to build on this year, you know. Throughout the year, I felt like I've played some great tennis in different parts, you know. Obviously winning Indian Wells, I felt like I played outstanding in San Jose, Indian Wells, then the clay court season wasn't my best and then got on the grass and played as well as I've ever played on grass, you know. That was probably the best tennis that I've nearly played for those three or four weeks. And then the US summer I actually felt like I wasn't feeling great and didn't do a lot of work going in, but I felt like I actually had pretty good results withstanding the way that I wasn't able to ?? I didn't really prepare that well for those tournaments and I still made final at Cincinnati, came close there, and also, you know, semis of the US Open.

QUESTION: How do you call with your friends, with your family, what killer instincts or which special shot you are inside yourself, special power you can have on court to win match like this? Second, you are still surprised sometimes about how good you are and what you can do on court?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Where does it come from?
QUESTION: Yes.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I really don't know. Ever since growing up in juniors, I always played a couple of years out of my age group. I never ever played in my age group and I was always playing against bigger, stronger kids and I had to develop a way to beat them, you know, I had to ?? sometimes I got my butt kicked and I didn't really enjoy that and I had to come back and try and work out how I was going to beat them. And obviously one of those things was going to be very mentally tough out on the court and that never say die attitude and I think, in a lot of ways, it sort of came from there but, you know, when I was playing football and stuff like that, I'm very competitive. You know, I think a lot's got to do with that. I see every point as match point in a lot of ways. You know, even if the guy is serving at 40?0, I still want to try and somehow win that game and the way that I look at it, if I win that game, that's a bigger bonus than just breaking to love anyway because, you know, you're starting to get into their mind a little bit more. The second question. Yeah, it's hard to believe that, you know, so much has happened at such a young age. You know, it's very surprising to me. It's not that long ago that I was, you know, going with my parents to the Australian Open with my sister and watching ?? I remember getting there before all the matches and watching Ivan Lendl grind it out with Rochey on the practice courts out the back and I went to Melbourne Park every year since it's been open and, you know, for me, that was just the greatest holiday being there and seeing those guys play in the Australian Open and, you know, for me to actually not only be part of the Australian Open and part of the tour now to actually be at the pinnacle of it, like a guy like Lendl was and that who I sort of looked up to and, you know, just tried to work out everything that they did, you know, it definitely is surprising sometimes.

QUESTION: Paul McNamee was doing a little session with some kids here yesterday morning and apparently the large majority of them were running around with baseball caps back to front. Is it kind of gratifying to know that all that you're achieving is also being noticed by young children who undoubtedly aspire to play the way you do perhaps in the future?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it's great, great ?? I take a great pleasure in seeing that. Yeah, it's a bid weird, though, for me at the same time. You know, I'm only 21 at the moment and to see, even back in Australia, a lot of kids are running around with back?to?front caps and just when kids come up and see you and stuff, you know, they're over the moon just to come up and shake hands and say hello and stuff like that and these young kids and, you know, it definitely feels weird sometimes, but it's also, you know, a great feeling as well to know that you're doing something for the sport of tennis that has done so much for me, both on and off the court and, you know, also in some ways helping out Australian tennis means a lot to me as well and if that's going to get kids playing and wanting to play Davis Cup the way that I want to play, you know, for Australia in the years to come, then, you know, then I see that I've done something good for Australian tennis.

QUESTION: You've just had a dramatic week here and Shanghai seems to be your lucky place. You just promised on the award ceremony that next year if you are invited, you will come here again to the Heineken Open here. Going to have a very high ATP score and prize money. So will you keep your promise if next year you are invited?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I promise? I don't think so. But, yeah, I definitely didn't promise anything, but coming back, Shanghai has been a great place for me, you know, everything has run very smoothly here and, yeah, everything has been great, the hospitality, the security, you know, the way the tournament has been run. Whether I'll be back here, you know, in years to come, you know, I'm definitely not going to promise anything, but, you know, it's definitely ?? it's up there now. It's got a lot better chance that I'll be back here playing in the tournament one day. I'm not going to definitely say next year, but, you know, a lot depends on how the schedule fits in and I know that it's very close after a Davis Cup tie as well, so a lot depends on Davis Cup and where we're playing and stuff like that.
November 16 2002

Lleyton Hewitt (d Federer 75 57 75)

QUESTION: Lleyton, can you tell us the last time you had to fight so hard for a win?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Couple of nights ago. Yeah, pretty much, you know, it was obviously tough out there for different circumstances, I guess, tonight and considering that, you know, we both had a lot of opportunities at different times to win different sets and it all went, you know, screwed up for both of us at different times, but the other night I was a break down in the third set. So, you know, I had to fight extremely hard through that match as well, but, you know, they're two of the toughest guys around. You can't expect any easy matches in this tournament.

QUESTION: When you got first match point, you had a double fault. Did you have any pressure at that point?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Which one?
QUESTION: First match point.
LLEYTON HEWITT: My first one I didn't double fault. The first one I had was in the first ?? in the second set, serving for it and he played a point too good on that occasion. I was a little bit negative. The second match point I got, the first one in the second set, double faulted and I was ?? it was a tough thing because, you know, I was praying to try and get a first serve in and when you don't get a first serve in against a guy like Roger, it's awkward because he can step up and take initiative in the point, so I tried to rip it a little bit, tried to get a bit more skin on it, kick, height to his backhand. He has a tendency sometimes to shank a couple of those high backhands and I just ripped it a little bit too much and it went into the tape and bounced out. I think we both got a little bit nervous in some of the big situations.

QUESTION: How do you think you're going to shape up for tomorrow?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Don't know. Good question. Your guess is probably as good as mine. Obviously I'm a little bit tired, but, you know, to tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure how I got through the last couple of matches. They were very physically demanding and I think I went through, you know, the pain barrier there a couple of times against both those guys. So, you know, I've survived two tough matches. One to go. Obviously it's the best of five set match and, you know, it definitely, I think, got on top of me, you know, in the end of Paris, you know. That's probably the reason I didn't perform so well in the final there against Safin, plus he was too good. But, you know, it's been a hell of a change this week compared to the way that I was feeling, you know, getting into the start of ?? halfway through the second set towards the ebd of the second set and the start of the third set in Paris, compared to the way I'm feeling here. But, you know, he's had tough matches as well, Juan Carlos. So, you know, we're got normally pretty fit guys and it's going to be a grind tomorrow as well.

QUESTION: When you're playing a match, do you sometimes surprise yourself with some of the shots that you pull off? There was that one that went around the net post, just missed the line, or is it just impossible to think that was a good shot when you're in the middle of a match?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I guess it works both ways. Sometimes you wonder, that wasn't bad, but then, also, you know, a couple of Federer shots and also Safin the other night, two of probably the best shotmakers in tennis. So a few times you feel like you're on top of the rally and they're able to change it around just as quickly. So a couple of times you got to pinch yourself and say, 'How did I lose that point?' You know, that's why we're here playing the Masters Cup, I guess. You're playing against the elite players in the field, in the world, and you've got to come to expect that, I guess.

QUESTION: How were you feeling when there were long deuces?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not great. You know, I obviously would have liked to have won a few of my service games a little bit easier than I did, but then again, you know, you got to keep fighting it out to the very last point and I was able to do that, and a couple of very crucial service games in both ?? in pretty much every set.

QUESTION: It's been flagged earlier today by some tennis officials that they might start looking at a way to combine the men's and the women's end of year champs. I guess on a personal level, you would probably think that that was a very good idea. Do you have a professional opinion? How do you think that would go down with the male players?
LLEYTON HEWITT: That's the first I've heard of that. You know, for all I know, they're set in LA and we're set in Houston for the next two years with the Masters, so, you know, I would have to look at ?? you know, I really don't know what would be the best thing for tennis and men's tennis, but obviously I think a lot of people would really enjoy seeing obviously the elite ?? it's like a fifth Grand Slam in a lot of ways. So, you know, it's hard to say. Obviously with Kim, you know, it would be pretty enjoyable for me, but, you know, looking to the side, I don't know how the other boys are going to react. But, you know, then again, there's a lot of things where you've going to play it and, you know, the weeks and everything has got to combine as well, so I think that's probably a long way off still.

QUESTION: Could you just talk a little bit about your will to win and whether each success that you're having in your career kind of reaffirms it and makes it even stronger, whereas some people might feel that, you know, there would be an area of complacency if you achieve a goal. It seems with you to have the opposite effect.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I hate to lose. I really don't know how to put it other than that. You know, I go out there and I compete. This is probably the same as last year, as tough a situation as you can be in. Obviously I've worked my butt off for 12 months of the year to hold up the No. 1 trophy and I was able to do that a couple of nights ago and that's the reason that ?? otherwise the way my health was going, I probably wouldn't have played Paris and the Masters; it's as simple as that. You know, my main goal was to get the No. 1 trophy I worked so hard for this year and, you know, now I've sort of put myself in a situation that I've got a great opportunity of maybe defending my title in the Masters again, so it's a tough situation to be on such a high yet, you know, you got to try and put your head down and still try and grind it out, but once you get out there, that competitive spirit in me just keeps burning and it would have been very easy to at least throw in that first set today. A lot of guys, a lot of things weren't going for me. I got a dodgy call in that game to go down 30?15 when Roger was serving for the first set and from then on, I was able to really turn it around and go up another gear.

QUESTION: How would you describe the atmosphere out there today? It seemed pretty intense. What sort of effect, if any, did it have on your performance?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, great atmosphere out there. It's really enjoyable, I think, being in a country where they don't really know who to support, I guess, in a lot of ways and they just really enjoy seeing great tennis out there, played at its best. You know, it doesn't matter what the situation is. As soon as someone hits a huge point or runs down a big shot, the crowd goes nuts. And for me, it's fantastic. I love playing in jam?packed arenas like this. It's been, you know, in my opinion, pretty good crowds every day here and you got to take your hat off to the two guys, Michael and Charlie, who organised it here, to be able to sell all the tickets. They've really done a good job and, you know, it's been really enjoyable playing in front of this crowd.

QUESTION: Bit of a strange question, but when things aren't going your way, does it ever occur to you that you're going to lose or do you just think it's going to take longer to win?
LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, sometimes I think, you know, you're not human if it doesn't a little bit enters your mind now and then. I think the quicker you're able to block it out and get on with the next point, then the better off you're going to be. So that's something that I've tried to work on since being a junior, basically, trying to block out the negative thoughts and even if you do get negative on yourself, as I do a couple of times in matches, you got to try and refocus and try and think of the positives and try and get back on track as quickly as possible. And the way that I play very intention out there, I think that helps in a lot of ways to try and ?? that 'never say die' attitude. Every point is match point. I think that really helps me to be able to sort of switch it on for every point and try and remain positive during the match.

QUESTION: Even if you missed a few opportunities and got nervous sometimes, don't you think it was one of your best match of the year or maybe the best today?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It was my best match?
QUESTION: One of your best matches.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was up there. It was a patchy kind of match, I think. It was very close and I think that made it more maybe, you know, more interesting than sometimes the tennis was. Match of the year? It's hard to go past the way I played in Wimbledon in some of my matches, obviously, and even again fought really hard final against Agassi at San Jose. To me, that's been the match of the year by a fair way, you know, the way that we both played and 7?6 in the third in that match, you know, as it turns out, the No. 1 and 2 players fighting it off for the end as well. It was probably one of the biggest matches that I've been a part of.

QUESTION: There are a lot of people saying that Roger Federer plays a bit like Pete Sampras. With an all?round game like Roger Federer, compared to the serve?volley game of Pete Sampras, from your experience playing both players, what do you think are the differences between them?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, you know, it's hard to compare Pete Sampras with Roger Federer right at the moment. Obviously Roger is a great player and he's only going to get better and better and, you know, I'm convinced that he's going to win a Grand Slam sooner or later. He plays very well on all surfaces. This year he's been probably a little bit up and down. Obviously he played great before the French Open and great around US Open time onwards, but he has a couple of lapses in there now and then where he has three or four bad weeks in a row and I think, you know, as I said, Pete Sampras has won 14 Grand Slams and Pete is not the worst player from the back of the court by no means, especially when he's at his peak. So, you know, at the moment, I still believe that, you know, obviously the way the Sampras played at the US Open was pretty faultless.

QUESTION: It's been two days now since you've been confirmed as No. 1. Apparently it's getting huge publicity back in Australia. I just want to get some sense of the response that you might have had so far. Have you been contacted by people or any feedback from Australia and whether also you might have been contacted about new endorsements or new commercial opportunities as a result of being No. 1 twice in a row.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, obviously I've had a few phone calls, but, you know, just from, I guess, close relatives and friends back in Australia. A lot of people within the Australian tennis scene, I guess, you know. There's been a lot of high guys ?? John Newcombe is probably as high as anyone. You know, I've had a few faxes from different people around Australia, you know, helping out. One of the nicest ones, I think, was the McGuinness McDermot Foundation in Adelaide. Endorsements and that, I wouldn't have a clue. You know, I'm in the tournament, I'm concentrating on what I got to do at the moment and I haven't spoken to my agents about it at all. They would have more idea about that, but first things first, I've got to still go out there and try and get over the line tomorrow and I don't even really want to talk about that until I've had a decent rest and can think clearly, I guess, about the whole situation and what I'm prepared to do and what I'm not


 

November 14 2002

Lleyton Hewitt (d Safin 64 26 64) semi

QUESTION: Lleyton, congratulations both on the win tonight, but also on ?? I suppose you would call it a 'beauty', wouldn't you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Not bad, is it?

QUESTION: How would you sum up now the feelings at the end of this year?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Incredible right at the moment. It's hard to compare to last year. Obviously getting to No. 1 for the first time in your home country and being out there and enjoying it, I guess, with my best mate in tennis, Pat Rafter, so, you know, really, it's tough to beat that. It was a different situation tonight after obviously Andre lost that cliffhanger against Ferrero, I knew before I went out tonight that I had No. 1 and it's a tough thing to go out and play straight after that. So, for me, I felt like it was probably one of the gutsiest efforts that I've ever played in against tonight, to come back against Marat the way that he finished off the second and the way that he started the third, that's as well as anyone has ever hit the ball I've ever seen.

QUESTION: As you say, that was a real tough one tonight. Was there a feeling in your mind particularly when you were sort of ?? it could easily have slipped away from you that having got No. 1, this is one match tonight I really mustn't let get away?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I think that was probably the driving force, to really believe in yourself and show why you are No. 1 in the world and, you know, to beat Marat the way that he played tonight, you know, it's hard to see how he lost yesterday to Costa the way that he played in the end there against me tonight. So, you know, he's very hot and cold, I guess. He played one bad service game in the start of the first set to give me the break and apart from that, he put a lot of pressure on every one of my service games and the way the conditions are in there, it's very tough for me to play against a guy like Marat who hits the ball so extremely hard as well because the balls are like ?? it's like playing with watermelons out there, they're that big.

QUESTION: It must be a strange sort of feeling, a situation to be in where it's beyond your control as to what happens if you do or don't make the semis.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, well, if I don't, then it doesn't really bother me right at the moment. You know, I went out there and I've played. I think I've got better and better every match that I've played this week. In the group that I was in, if someone told me at the start of the week that you were going to get two wins out of the three, I would have taken it, I think. I haven't played a hell of a lot of matches coming in here. Obviously I was pretty much under the gun as soon as I went into Paris with Andre breathing down my neck there for the No. 1 position and the way that I held up pretty well in Paris up to the final and came out here and got better and better as the week gone on, so I knew I had to get a win on the board tonight and I did that and now it's out of my control. But if I get the opportunity to play on Saturday, you never know what can happen. I definitely wouldn't write myself out of it.

QUESTION: Obviously the emotions are running high at the moment, but is it possible to reflect on whether winning it the first time or retaining it is the more enjoyable experience?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's tough. I really don't know. I think probably getting it the first time, just because, you know, the whole circumstances, I knew I ?? I thought I had to win the tournament, the Masters Cup, the finale at the end of the year. Getting it being the youngest ever and there's just something about getting to No. 1 the first time, I believe, just to say, you know, in the years gone by, that you got to the pinnacle of your sport. I know Sampras has said a lot of the time that it's a lot harder to hold the No. 1 position and there's no doubt about that. It's bloody tough. But I think, you know, this has been fantastic and it's been special in a lot of ways, just because, you know, I've led this year, I guess, for most of it, especially since Wimbledon and I've been able to hold No. 1 for the whole year. So it's very special in those ways and plus, you know, I really haven't felt 100 per cent most of the year either, you know, and it was tough pulling out of Madrid a few weeks ago when I would have liked to have been playing and that was a little bit out of my control as well and I guess I should thank my professor back in Sydney. He promised me it would all be all right when I pulled out of Madrid and I didn't want to and that sort of, you know, in the end it paid off.

QUESTION: Where were you watching the Agassi match and what was going through your mind as you watched it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I didn't watch it. We've all got individual locker rooms in there. Apart from getting my toes and feet taped and everything, you know, doing my prematch warm up and I had score updates coming back to me the whole time. Just, you know, knowing what was going on, but it was a little bit, I guess, like playing a Davis Cup match. You know, when you play the second singles, quite often I would know the scores, but I wouldn't want to watch the match if Pat was playing before me or whoever, just because, you know, you burn a lot of nervous energy, I guess, and I've seen it pretty up close watching Pat Rafter over the last few years sometimes cramp in his match after watching a couple of my cliffhangers. So, you know, it was tough. But then again, you know, when I knew they were in a tie?break in the third set, you obviously ?? your mind is wandering a little bit because you know you're that close to securing the No. 1 spot that, you know, you sort of work so hard towards.

QUESTION: Who did you actually hear the news from?
LLEYTON HEWITT: When it was over?
QUESTION: Yeah.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I actually found out that Ferrero was 6?3 up in the break and it got back to 6?6 and from then on, my mate kept running in and telling me the score, what was going on. He was pretty excited, my mate, I think more excited than me when he found out.
QUESTION: Congratulations.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Thanks.
QUESTION: So what does the next few weeks hold for you and how important now is the Australian Open? Is that sort of maybe the one missing link in a perfect set?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, you know, it's probably a blessing in disguise that we're not in a Davis Cup final. I feel pretty run down at the moment and it would have been extremely tough to come ?? bounce back again after all this high and that to go out and play Davis Cup final. So I've just got to put the feet up for a few weeks, you know. I really don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm enjoying ?? going to enjoy having a few weeks off and because of the Davis Cup last year, I really didn't get that good a preparation going into the Australian summer last year and then I still felt like I was hitting the ball pretty well before I got the chicken pox anyway. So, you know, I'm going in obviously with the Hopman Cup again and then a week off and then Melbourne, you know, I enjoyed my time in Perth, apart from obviously getting sick, and I felt like it was a real sort of relaxed week, I got match practice that I needed and, yeah, you know, obviously the Australian Open, you know, would be one of my biggest dreams to win in Melbourne Park, but haven't even passed the round of 16 yet, so if I get to round of 16 or quarters, I reckon I got a good chance.

QUESTION: Just another question about being in Shanghai. There's a city of up to 19 million people here and there's a 300 million TV audience in China alone. Yet you drive around this enormous place and you're confronted by these huge billboards of yourself. Is that slightly surreal?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it is. It's weird. There's no doubt about it. But, you know, I guess I got thrown in the spotlight at a young age, so I've had to somehow deal with it or learn to deal with it and pretty much since when I won Adelaide when I was 16, the next year, there were all posters up around Adelaide, 'Come and watch Lleyton Hewitt defend his title'. For me, that was pretty hard, so this is a little bit easier, I guess. But it's weird, every sort of second billboard, there you are again. But I think it's good for tennis, I guess, you know, the publicity and getting, you know ?? I know there was a lot of posters of myself and Agassi and I don't think many people around the world don't know who Andre is, so maybe they get to know me as well.

QUESTION: Your qualification depends on two Spanish playing together and there is some speculation about them arranging the match. What do you think about that?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, where do you start? It wouldn't be great for tennis if something did happen, you know. I don't think it would happen in this day and age, you know. Carlos has worked so hard to get back to where he is now in the world. You know, he's ?? I believe he would be silly not to want to go through undefeated, to throw a match. I don't care what you're playing. Then again, you know, I know Carlos is a good bloke and I just wouldn't think it would be in his nature to throw it. I'm sure he would be as desperate as anyone to go out there and win and, who knows, as I said yesterday, you know, my prediction for sure would be Moya the way that I think he's playing as well as anybody in the game right at the moment on any surface. So, you know, there's no doubt that my tip is Moya going into tomorrow's match.

QUESTION: What is your comment about Agassi? When you reach his age, what do you think you will be doing then?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, you know, obviously I find it a little bit surprising that he's lost his first two matches here. Coming in here, I thought he was playing as well as anyone, obviously winning Madrid and making the quarters of Paris, losing to Moya, who as I just said, I think he's playing as well as anyone. So it's definitely a little strange. Obviously today's match could have gone either way, but yesterday's match is probably a little bit more weird, I guess, you know. For his age, it's incredible. I can tell you right now that I probably won't be sitting here, you know, talking to you guys when I'm 32, going for this trophy. So you know, he's in incredible shape and for him to, you know, want it so badly, the desire and the motivation is still there and it's a wonderful thing for the game of tennis that you still have one of the greatest players ever to play the game and one of the greatest personalities still out there matching it with the best sort of rising stars and up and comers.

QUESTION: Just going back to last year, you didn't really get much time to celebrate; you went to Davis Cup. Can you just give us a bit of an insight into how you will celebrate this year? Are you the sort of guy who's going to have a few beers with the mates, get sloshed, buy a Ferrari or what?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I don't know at the moment. I really don't know. Obviously go home straight after I'm done here, whether I get to play on the weekend or not, so I'll go home and put my feet up, I'll catch up with all my mates. You know, might have a quiet few beers, I guess, with a few of the boys back home and, you know, I've definitely had a few mates who have travelled with me throughout this year as well who have really helped me and sort of kept my mind off tennis, I guess, at important times during the year and they weren't able to be here and celebrate it at the moment. So you know, it really means a lot to the people I'm closest to, including one of my former ?? my former coach, Peter Smith, who I got coached by when I was 6 to 16 as well. I'm always in conversation with him and his eldest son is here with me as well this week, so there's a lot of people who I still got to go and thank and sort of, I guess, celebrate with when I get back.

QUESTION: Any sort of spending spree or anything?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, not really. I don't ?? I don't think I really need much at the moment ?? don't know.


QUESTION: Just getting back to the closing stages of the Agassi match when you heard that he double faulted on match point, what was your reaction or did you not allow yourself to have a reaction because you had to go out on court straight away?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I actually ?? I didn't know he double faulted until 5 or 10 minutes after when someone told me. I just knew the match was over. I didn't know how it finished or anything, but, you know, obviously my reaction was, I guess, relief in a lot of ways, you know. I've worked so hard throughout the whole year, lot of ups and downs as well and, you know, if you were to tell ?? I keep going back to it, but if you were to tell me end of January, that I was going to be sitting here holding this trophy, I probably would have laughed the way that I was feeling at that time. So for me, this is ?? that's probably the biggest or the most special thing about, you know, winning it again this year, to bounce back after the chicken pox at the start of the year. And there's no way of putting it, but I was shattered after I lost the Australian Open in the first round this year and, you know, I didn't ?? I sort of tried to focus more on obviously Wimbledon and the US Open and instead of the No. 1 and after, I got myself into contention. So I think sort of relief once I knew it was sort of over and the chase had finished.

 

November 13 2002

Lleyton Hewitt (def by Moya 64 75)

QUESTION: After losing to Moya today, are you worried that there will be some arrangement between Moya and Costa?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I didn't even think of that. I hope not. You know, it would definitely put the game of tennis in ?? it would be bad for the game of tennis, I think, if there was anything and I know Carlos pretty well and he's a great guy. I've never had any problems with Carlos and, you know, on form, I think ?? I believe I played a lot better tonight than I did last night and I lost to Moya in straight sets. I had a lot of chances, yet I beat Costa in three sets. So I think that pretty much tells you who is the better player out of those two by a fairly long way.

QUESTION: Apparently Moya is very difficult to beat for you. What makes Moya so difficult to play for you because Carlos beat you a few times already.

LLEYTON HEWITT: I think I've actually only started to struggle against Carlos this year and, you know, if you look at his results this year, he's been pretty good since the clay court season. I beat him pretty comfortably first round of Indian Wells on hard court. Since then, he's gone up in leaps and bounds, you know, he's playing unbelievable tennis at the moment, as he's shown numerous times during the year, not only on clay, but also on hard court now as well. So you know, it's definitely no bad loss losing to Carlos Moya. He's had injuries over the last few years and he's back to ?? I think he even said that he's maybe playing better than when he won the French Open and got No. 1 a few years ago.

QUESTION: Carlos must be the only human being in the world who can drop shot Lleyton Hewitt and get away with it. Do you think that that was a key part of his victory tonight, that phenomenal touch?

LLEYTON HEWITT: He hit a couple of drop shots. I don't think that's the reason why he won tonight. You know, I think there was key points in the match where, you know, there was one game, the game that he ?? when I was up an early break in the first set, he just played too well to get that break back. There really wasn't much I could do. The next time I lost my serve at 4?4, I was up 30?0 in that game, so I had chances there. I felt like it was just the big points that got away from me tonight. You know, in the end, I felt like I had chances, you know, to go on and maybe even come back and win that second set, you never know when you get into a third set, but he's ?? there's a lot more than just drop shots to Moya's game and he's obviously ?? his forehand has always been extremely good. I believe his backhand, he's improved his backhand over the last couple of years. This year, halfway through this year, he's hitting his backhand a lot better than he did at the start of the year.

QUESTION: What do you think about the other two matches, Safin and Agassi? They lost strange matches. There were up, both, and then they lost on this surface. What do you think will happen about the surface, which is maybe not so fast. What do you think?

LLEYTON HEWITT: I didn't see either of the matches, so it's hard for me to pinpoint why they lost, but obviously the score line, Safin was up a set and I think he was nearly up a break, I'm not sure if he was. He was up a break as well. So that's just lack of concentration for a guy like Marat. He's too good a player to lose to Albert Costa indoors from a set and a break up. Agassi I didn't see one point. You know, I heard he was 5?2 up in the first set. It's too hard for me to comment. You know, I really don't know. Novak may have played unbelievable, for all I know. It is a little bit weird Agassi losing to him 5, 6?1 when you are 5?2 up, but for me to comment on that is too difficult.
QUESTION: Andre Agassi, after his match, was extremely disappointed and he said it would be really hard mentally for him to regroup and come back in the other stages of the round robin and play well because of his loss. How about you? How are you feeling after your loss? Are you going to have any troubles coming back after losing to Moya?

LLEYTON HEWITT: You know, you're always disappointed, but I felt like I gave everything I had out there tonight. Carlos was just too good. As you all saw, I tried everything I had, you know, until the very last point and in the end, you know, it was ?? I guess from 40?0 up serving, you shouldn't lose from that position anyway, but I ended up having a break point and got an overrule against me, so if you go into a second set tie?break, anything can happen after a guy's served for the match and been up a break twice in a set. So, you know, I've got to bounce back as quickly as possible, I got to play again tomorrow night, late tomorrow night, and playing a guy, Marat Safin, who has lost both his matches, but, you know, my guess is as good as yours what the hell he's going to play like tomorrow. So I've got to go out there and I've got to be very mentally tough and play my game and obviously he was too good for me in Paris and hopefully I can improve on that.

QUESTION: What about the mind aspect for that match tomorrow against Safin? Is there a case of you're thinking that you want to avenge the result from Paris? Is it just the match you're thinking about? Is it the fact that it is so important because it will have an impact, a bearing on the world No. 1 ranking, the tournament, all sorts?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Well, you know, it's definitely got nothing to do with Paris, I don't think. You know, maybe there's little areas in my game I feel I can improve on, but I'm not going out there with a mind frame of trying to get revenge on Marat for losing the final at Paris. He was too good there and there really wasn't much I could do about it. Obviously the No. 1 ranking I guess comes into your mind going into a match like tomorrow. You know, not too much the tournament, I don't think, I think more so for me, the No. 1 ranking.

QUESTION: Tennis Australia say they're looking at the possibility of having a clay court for the Davis Cup next year. They've apparently got somebody in Australia looking at the possibility of that. What would you think of playing on clay court or would you prefer to play on hard court?

LLEYTON HEWITT: Still a lot of unknowns with a clay court. You know, at the end of the day, I'd like to speak to the person who would be organising the clay court and, you know, see how it's going to play. You know, if it's not going to be a good enough play court, then we don't even have a choice, in my opinion.

QUESTION: I just want to ask you, which part of Moya's game do you feel that really affects you to make you have lost all the matches you have played against him around the year? Which part of Moya's game?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's hard to say. You know, I think he's just worked on everything a little bit better since he's come back from injury. There's not one part of his game that I think I struggle with. Obviously if he's hitting his forehand well, it's very hard to get in to attack his forehand, he's very quick moving over wide to his forehand and he can change from defence to offence very well with that shot. As I said before to the other guy, that I believe his backhand he's improved the most in his game.

QUESTION: Kim won the WTA event yesterday. How do you feel about that by losing today? Does it really push you further or does it really put you down?

LLEYTON HEWITT: It's men's tennis and women's tennis. That's about the only similarities. You know, obviously it's fantastic that she won, you know. For me, I'd love to win as well. I'm just disappointed that I lost tonight and, you know, mathematically, I still have a chance of winning and at the moment all I care about is No. 1.

 

November 12 2002

Lleyton Hewitt (d. Costa 62 46 63)

QUESTION: Lleyton, with Kim doing so well overnight, so she's won her Masters, could you win yours? It's got a wonderful symmetry to it, doesn't it?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I've won already, I guess.

QUESTION: You've already got the bookends, but one more would be a nice payday for the family.
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it would be. I guess I get 50 per cent of that last night, so it's all right.

QUESTION: She's on 50 per cent too, I hear.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I guess. So we'll have to see what happens this week, but it would be nice, but, you know, first things first is to try to get through to the semis and if I can get through the semis, anything can happen. I feel like if I get through to the semifinals, I'll be hitting the ball well enough to maybe go in and win it, but then again there's a lot of things that can happen before then.

QUESTION: Have you had a chance to talk to Kim? Is she over the moon?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, I spoke to her. It's obviously the biggest moment in her tennis career so far and to beat the Williams sisters back to back, it's not something that a lot of players can say they've done, I guess, especially this year, the way that they've dominated the sport. So it's an incredible achievement and she doesn't have a lot of points to defend really, I don't think, semis of the Aussie. But apart from that, she's got a good chance to go even higher in the rankings, I believe.

QUESTION: While Kim was winning, Arancha Sanchez-Vicario was retiring. Just wondering
if you had a comment on that.
LLEYTON HEWITT: She retired?

QUESTION: Yeah.
LLEYTON HEWITT: I didn't know.

QUESTION: I didn't think you did.
LLEYTON HEWITT: She's obviously had an incredible -- are we going to talk about men's tennis? Yeah, she's had a great career and I guess there always comes a time for everyone to step down finally and she's pretty much done as much as she can do in the sport of tennis and I'm sure she can be pretty satisfied with the career that she's had.

QUESTION: Just a little last one on Kim. Is she coming here to support you?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, she's not.
QUESTION: The more important one, how did you feel your game was today? In the second set, there seemed to be a bit of times when you were struggling a little bit, but you obviously got it back well, but where did you think your game was?
LLEYTON HEWITT: I felt like I came out playing pretty well. Obviously there's always going to be some nerves at the start of such a big event, especially in this round robin competition, you obviously want to get off to a quick start in the best of three set matches in such a big tournament. I felt like I got off to that start, I handled the situation probably a lot better than Albert did. I played a pretty faultless first set. In the second set, he just sort of jumped me. He knew that he had to raise his game a lot and he came out in the second game and I didn't quite make enough first serves and he punished me for that. From then on, I fought extremely hard to get back into the second set. I felt like I did really well to get into it, 4-4, fought back from 40-0 to deuce, had chances in the next two points, wasn't able to get it. Apart from the double fault from set point, I felt like I played a pretty good game and to lose my serve at 4-5 in the second, he hit an incredible backhand up the line at 15-0 off my first serve and then he got a net court on the next point, so I felt like I was pretty close to winning in straight sets in the end, but I knew I definitely had to try to get on top of him early because he loves those long grinding matches.

QUESTION: Are you at all concerned with any aspects of your game? Certainly I'm sure you will be the first to say you've improved, you got to pick up your game as matches progress. How much more do you have to pick up?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's hard to say. I think at the moment especially tonight, you just want to sort of get a win on the board and get yourself into the tournament a bit more, not fall behind the eight ball straight away and I was able to do that tonight and I felt like I played in patches some pretty good tennis out there. I just got to try and maybe hold my serve a little bit easier and get a high percentage of first serves in is probably maybe the key aspect. It's playing pretty slow out there, the court. I got told it's going to be a very similar court to Sydney last year. It looks pretty similar, but I think it's a lot rougher because it's chopping the balls up a lot out. There after two games tonight, they were like basketballs out there. So it was playing against a guy like Costa makes it a little bit more tougher as well.

QUESTION: I don't imagine you've been out on the town much, but how does this place strike you, this city of Shanghai?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Pretty big, I think, pretty foggy. It looks really nice. I haven't done a lot of sightseeing just at the moment. I don't really plan to while I'm still in the tournament anyway, but everything is running to plan at the moment I think for all the players, the hospitality, the security has been incredible. I think the organization of this has been fantastic so far and what I've seen of the city from the hotel room and that, it looks a wonderful city.

QUESTION: How anxious are you to hold on to No. 1?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It would be a great way to finish a very long year. There's a great honour with holding the No. 1 ranking and for me to have gone since Sydney last year holding the No. 1 ranking so long, nearly a full calendar year now, that you've sort of come this far, you don't want to let go of it just yet. If I'm able to hold it, it will be fantastic. It will be a great achievement again. If not, if Andre is too good, he's too good.

QUESTION: Playing round robin is obviously an unusual situation. When you know you can lose a match, is there anything in the back of your mind, just a little voice that kind of holds you back a bit?
LLEYTON HEWITT: It's a weird situation because you obviously know that if you lose a match, you're still capable of getting through to the semifinals mathematically, but in some ways, it puts a little bit more pressure on you because you want to get off to that quick start and know that you maybe only need to win one of the next two. So it's a weird feeling going into the match. For me, the experience of playing the last couple of times in Lisbon and Sydney, and obviously how well I performed in Sydney last year, I lost the first set to Grosjean in probably the toughest group, I think, definitely last year, the way that it panned out, and I was able to get better and better after my first match. I think always your first match is pretty difficult. I'm just glad to get my first match a win on the board.

QUESTION: Every match you've won you get closer to being No. 1 in the world at year ending. Do you think your performance will affect Agassi's performance?
LLEYTON HEWITT: No, I don't think so. I think Andre knows what he's in for and he knows exactly how to play big matches. He's one of the best big match players I've seen in a very long time. He's been able to play extremely well in big matches throughout his career and I don't think he's going to feel too much pressure. If he's the better guy on the day, then he's going to win and, if not, if his opponents are too good, he's going to lose. It's as simple as that.

QUESTION: The crowd seemed to be right behind you. Were you surprised by how enthusiastic they were and how knowledgeable they seemed to be and in fact you seem to have a very strong following here in China?
LLEYTON HEWITT: Yeah, it was fantastic. Obviously in the match before me, the Safin-Moya match, I heard a lot of yelling and screaming out there, but I didn't really know what to expect, I guess. I've never played in China and I haven't played a lot in Asia, so I was a little bit unknown to how they were going to react and I think they really enjoyed the way that I play tennis, sort of wearing any heart on my sleeve out there and the way that I show emotion and get fired up when I win big points and I think they just really enjoyed it out there and it obviously helps me a lot as well.